Devotion to the Holy Rosary: ​​a Eucharistic and Marian love

The Holy Rosary and the Eucharistic Tabernacle, the Rosary and the Eucharistic altar recall and form unity in the Liturgy and in the piety of the faithful, according to the teaching of the Church of yesterday and today. It is known, in fact, that the Rosary recited before the Blessed Sacrament earns a plenary indulgence, according to the norms of the Church. This is a special gift of grace that we should make our own as much as possible. The little Blessed Francis of Fatima in the last days of his serious illness was particularly fond of reciting many Rosaries at the altar of the Blessed Sacrament. For this reason, every morning he was carried by the arm to the parish church of Aljustrel, near the altar, and there he also remained four hours in a row to recite the holy crown, constantly looking at the Eucharistic Jesus, whom he called the hidden Jesus.

And we do not remember Saint Pio of Pietrelcina who, day and night, prayed for hours with the crown of the Holy Rosary in his hand at the altar of the Blessed Sacrament, in contemplation of the sweet Madonna delle Grazie; in the sanctuary of San Giovanni Rotondo? Crowds and crowds of pilgrims could see Padre Pio in this way, gathered in the prayer of the Rosary, while the Eucharistic Jesus from the Tabernacle and the Madonna with the image invested him with grace upon grace to be distributed to the brothers in exile. And what was not the happiness of Jesus in hearing his sweetest Mother pray?

And what about the Mass of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina? When he celebrated it at four in the morning, he got up at one to prepare for the Eucharistic celebration with the recitation of twenty rosary crowns! The Holy Mass and the Holy Rosary, the Rosary crown and the Eucharistic altar: what an inseparable unity they had among themselves for Saint Pio of Pietrelcina! And did it not happen that the Madonna herself accompanied him to the altar and was present at the Holy Sacrifice? It was Padre Pio himself who let us know by saying: «Don't you see Our Lady next to the Tabernacle?».

The same was done by another Servant of God, Father Anselmo Trèves, an admirable priest, who also celebrated the Eucharistic Sacrifice at four in the morning preparing for Holy Mass with the recitation of several Rosaries.

The Rosary, in fact, in the school of the Supreme Pontiff Paul VI, not only harmonizes with the Liturgy, but brings us right to the threshold of the Liturgy, that is, the most sacred and highest prayer of the Church, which is the Eucharistic celebration. In fact, no other prayer is more suitable than the Holy Rosary for the preparation and thanksgiving of Holy Mass and Eucharistic Communion.

Preparation and thanksgiving with the Rosary.
Indeed, what better preparation can be had for the celebration or participation in Holy Mass than the contemplation of the sorrowful mysteries of the Holy Rosary? Meditation and loving contemplation of the Passion and Death of Jesus, reciting the five sorrowful mysteries of the Holy Rosary, are the closest preparation to a celebration of the Holy Sacrifice that is a living participation in the Sacrifice of Calvary that the Priest renews on the altar, having Jesus in his hands. Being able to celebrate and participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the altar with Mary and like Mary Most Holy: is this not perhaps the superlative ideal for all priests and faithful?

And what better way can one have, for thanksgiving at Holy Mass and Communion, than contemplating the joyful mysteries of the Holy Rosary? It is so easy to realize that the presence of Jesus in the Virgin Womb of the Immaculate Conception, and the loving adoration of the Immaculate Conception of Jesus in her Womb (in the mysteries of the Annunciation and the Visitation), as in the cradle of Bethlehem (in the mystery of the Christmas), become the sublime and unattainable model of our loving adoration to the same Jesus present alive and true, for several minutes, in our soul and in our body, after Holy Communion. Thanking, adoring, contemplating Jesus with the Immaculate Conception: can there be more?

We too learn from the Saints. St. Joseph of Copertino and St. Alphonsus Maria de 'Liguori, St. Piergiuliano Eymard and St. Pio of Pietrelcina, the little blessed Francis and Jacinta of Fatima closely and passionately linked the Eucharist to the Holy Rosary, the Holy Mass to the Holy Rosary, the Tabernacle to the Holy Rosary. Praying with the Rosary to prepare for the celebration of the Eucharist, and with the Rosary also giving thanks to Holy Communion was their teaching fruitful of graces and heroic virtues. May their fervent Eucharistic and Marian love also become ours.